The black sun hangs high

Chapter 231 Head

Cedar Scholar Tower Group.

As the only place in the entire Vaan region to possess three Deep Sea-level mages, and being the closest Deep Sea-level mage tower complex to Merlinle in the North, its status is naturally extremely high.

However, this magnificent complex of buildings, which stands on the edge of the snowy mountains in the north, now appears somewhat dilapidated.

Even today, faint magical smoke still drifts out from between those broken towers.

The bizarre attack that occurred before the Winter Solstice seems to have indeed caused extremely serious and irreparable damage to the Scholars' Towers complex. However, to this day, neither the Cedar Scholars' Towers complex nor the Legal Committee has released the specific reasons and process of that bizarre attack.

"There are just too many things for the outside world to focus on these days."

Inside one of the mage towers, two figures sat facing each other, each holding a cup of hot tea, in which floated magical cedar needles.

The furnishings inside the mage tower are very ancient. Here, you can hardly see any equipment related to the emerging steam technology. Everything is built around the concepts of the classical school of magic. Even the teapot used to add hot water is an old model from a hundred years ago.

The figure who had just spoken picked up his teacup, took a slow sip of the cedar tea, and then said in his deep voice, "If we go back fifty or twenty years... back then, let alone the attack on the mage tower complex, even if a piece of the sculpture on your roof were damaged, it would become a topic of discussion among ordinary people."

As he spoke, the man placed his teacup on the table beside him, raised his head, and exposed his face to the light.

This was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance. Apart from his small eyes, he had no other obvious features. He looked like an ordinary clerk or editor who had come from a magazine, or a general worker in a government agency of some country.

His clothes were very ordinary, just a standard heavy overcoat, which was placed on the hat next to him and even had two patches.

However, a strange light flickered in his slightly narrowed eyes, and a magical glow danced between his eyelids.

Opposite the middle-aged man was a man dressed in a standard long robe.

If the middle-aged man in the heavy trench coat was an "ordinary person" with the characteristics of a secret mage, then this man directly revealed his identity as a magic scholar in the most thorough and comprehensive way.

The man's age was somewhat difficult to determine. He had a long beard and a receding hairline, but his hair and beard were all black and had not turned gray.

His face had wrinkles, but not many, and there seemed to be a hint of aging between his brows and eyes, but often the next second, this sign of aging would be overshadowed by the vigorous energy he displayed.

However, everyone familiar with the Cedar Scholars' Tower and the deep-sea mages knows that the most important deep-sea mage in the Cedar Scholars' Tower, "Yetevich," is already over 110 years old, and there are even rumors that he is actually close to 200 years old.

To outsiders, Master Yetvich's astonishing longevity was attributed to his faith in the God of Life and his mastery of healing magic.

Scholars at the lake and valley levels are already "rare beings" that are difficult for ordinary people to access. As for deep-sea level mages, they are often just symbols in people's imaginations.

After hearing what the middle-aged man in front of him said, Master Yetvich calmly raised his eyes. He opened his mouth, and a weathered voice that was completely different from his appearance immediately came out: "Novi, you are always like this. You always beat around the bush before you can say anything... I am an old man and I don't want to suffer this kind of pointless energy consumption."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man, referred to as "Novi," grinned and said, "Yes, yes, you guys are really in a mess... What happened in Saint Steel these past two days should be enough to give you a headache, right?"

As he spoke, Novi raised his finger and pointed out the window. Through the window, one could see the destroyed top of another mage tower in the distance—it had not yet been repaired.

"It seems that the attack really terrified you. Even now, you're still too afraid to repair the damaged mage tower?"

Faced with the middle-aged man's deliberate or unintentional provocation and mockery, Master Yetvich shook his head: "Novi, you have no idea what really happened that day... Everything your society once revered and pursued was nothing in the face of that attack."

Novie slowly rose from his chair, pulled out a metal cane almost identical to the scepter that Hugh carried with him, and leaned on it as he walked to the window.

The current head of the Black Sun Society quietly watched the smoke drifting from another mage tower. He widened his eyes, which had been slightly narrowed, and the magic in his pupils became incredibly vivid at this moment. In these constantly dancing and active lights and shadows, an indescribable strangeness was revealed.

Worship, longing, exploration...

There was even a hint of greed.

"Yetevich...Yetevich, my dear Yetevich!"

Novi turned around, the strange glint in his eyes vanishing in an instant, and his expression and demeanor returned to normal. He leaned on his cane and approached the Deep Sea Mage, then stared at him and slowly spoke: "Tell me, I request that you answer me truthfully, did that attack completely exceed your expectations, and also exceed your imagination of the concept of magic?"

Although Novi used words like "request" and "dear" in his speech, there was absolutely no respect for a deep-sea mage in his tone. On the contrary, it revealed the arrogance of a superior giving orders to a subordinate.

Right now, everything happening inside this mage tower and all the conversations taking place are enough to overturn the logic and cognition of the people of Vaan.

Master Yetvich's body trembled slightly before he replied, "The ritual site of the tower complex was directly torn open... Before that, the ritual site neither issued any warnings nor suffered any impact; everything was functioning normally."

While recounting these events, Yetvich couldn't help but close his eyes, but even so, he could still recall the horrific scenes from that time.

"What happened that day was indeed inconsistent with our understanding of magic. Even if the other party was very familiar with the ritual site we set up, there was absolutely no way they could bypass the security measures we had set up..."

Yetvich stated, "However, the guards, the puppets, and all the magic were rendered ineffective in the face of the attacker, who launched a direct attack on the meeting place without any prior warning, killing the mages that your society had sent to participate in the meeting."

"Alright, Yetvich, I'm not here today to hold you accountable..."

Novi shook his head: "Even if some of my students were among those who died, I wouldn't be angry. After all, in my view, their deaths are a blessing and honor that others can never hope for." Master Yetvich frowned: "What?"

“This is a true ‘miracle,’ Yetvich…”

Novi let out a sinister laugh: "Our people's meticulously planned 'Sacrifice of Seren' is, in my opinion, not even a fraction as good as what we see before us... Although I don't understand why He would do such a thing, isn't it a blessing in disguise?"

A look of disbelief flashed across Yetvich's eyes: "You consider that attack a blessing?"

"why not?"

Novi looked quietly at the deep-sea mage before him: "Your attitude is wrong, Yetvich... We are just useless insects in front of true gods, but now we have the opportunity to witness the power exerted by gods. Isn't that enough for us to cherish?"

Novy reached for the teacup, downed the cedar tea in one gulp, and then burst into laughter: "The date of that great prophecy is approaching, the black sun is stirring, and the miracle we have been waiting for is about to return to Vanne!"

As he spoke, Novi raised his cane and pointed it at the huge magic map hanging on the wall. A huge circle drawn with black magic immediately landed on the Kingdom of Saint Steel.

"Yetevich, before that, shouldn't you think about what you haven't done well enough?"

……

As the leader of the Cedar Scholars' Tower, Master Yetvich naturally harbored many secrets.

Of all these secrets, the most important is naturally the subtle connection he maintained with the Black Sun Society.

Back when Yetvich was still holding important positions within Merlinle and the Legal Committee, the research he led was related to the healing branch of sorcery and magic. His starting point was pure: as a believer in the God of Life, he was very dissatisfied with the ambiguity of this belief. As a scholar, Yetvich believed that he had to do everything possible to perfect this belief system and make it the second most widespread belief after the goddess of magic, Mel.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to delve deeper into the healing magic associated with the belief in the God of Life.

He turned his attention to those unclassifiable and mysterious evil spells and magics.

However, as he studied these spells, Yetvich gradually stumbled upon some special areas. Under the Legal Council's system, these areas were even more taboo than the necromancy of the past. However, by virtue of his authority and status, he mobilized a considerable amount of resources and tentatively began further research.

It was during this process that he met Novi, who claimed to be the head of the Black Sun Society.

Yetvich was full of confidence in herself.

He always believed that he was the most devout believer of the goddess Mel and the god of life, and on this basis, he was fully capable of resisting those strange heresies.

Supported by this confidence, he began to have in-depth exchanges and communication with the "wild mages" in the Black Sun Society. Under their intentional or unintentional guidance, Yetvich finally touched his goal. However, after lifting that huge curtain, what he saw was not the "life" faith he had been dreaming of.

"Life" does exist, but its origin is quite different from what Yetvich imagined.

From that moment on, Yetvich began a very peculiar and slow "change".

Despite his vehement denial of this change and attempts to sever all ties with the Black Sun Society, including considering using his resources within the Legal Committee to eradicate the entire organization, all his efforts ultimately failed.

The Black Sun Society, along with the beliefs, ideologies, and power behind them, was like a stubborn ailment clinging to Yetvich's bones, and the society's chief leader, "Novi," instilled a deep-seated fear in Yetvich.

Even after he became a deep-sea level mage, he still lacked the confidence to fight against his opponent on a magical level.

Yetvich couldn't imagine what kind of power could have given rise to such a terrifying mage under the strict control of Merlinler and the Legal Committee.

In the end, Yetvich gave up the fight.

His decision brought him unimaginable and astonishing benefits.

Under the influence of numerous unseen forces, the Cedar Scholar Tower Complex has become the largest and most important deep-sea mage residence in the entire Vaan, and a large amount of the Law Committee's resources have begun to be directed towards it.

Aside from this, as the influence of the Cedar Scholars' Tower Group continued to grow, Yevgeny, as an important leader among them, finally realized his past wish—he naturally became an important leader of the faith in the God of Life in the St. Still region. In some smaller St. Still towns, some believers even regarded Yevgeny as an important apostle sent to the world by the God of Life.

It was on this basis that the influence of the Black Sun Society successfully transitioned from the cedar scholar Taqun and the mage Yetevich to the common people of Saint St. Steel, and further began to spread toward the royal family and government of Saint St. Steel.

Today, the soldiers fighting the enemy in the freezing cold, enduring the cold, injuries, bullets, and artillery fire on the front lines are unaware that the government and royal family they serve have been fundamentally corrupted.

Those rulers who had already witnessed those ancient miracles under the guidance of the Black Sun Society and believed that Vaan was about to return to the Black Celestial Bodies and the Dark Abyss were heading towards complete madness. They no longer cared about the gains or losses of the battles on the front lines, nor about the survival of their legions and soldiers.

In their view, all of this is merely an offering to the real gods in the not-too-distant future.

“Yetevich, someone is trying to ruin your career... The things they're talking about are dangerous.”

Novi whispered in the Deep Sea Mage's ear, "Think carefully about how to handle this."

(End of this chapter)